117 ROH Gut Check 8/26/2006

ROH 117 – Gut Check – 26th August 2006

By rights Bryan Danielson and Colt Cabana should be able to have a great match together. They’re both charismatic, both really good within their defined roles and both very skilled wrestlers. But their match at Chi-Town Struggle was really underwhelming – possibly my least favourite Danielson defence. Tonight they get a chance to put that right, with Dragon entering his second 2/3 Falls Match in 24 hours after taking Nigel McGuinness to a 60-Minute 1-1 draw in St Paul at Epic Encounter 2. A show I panned as the most skippable (NOT the worst – that honour goes to How We Roll) event of 2006, although it did just win best DVD cover of the year in the ROH Message Board year-end awards. Tonight we also have Aries and Strong defending the Tag belts against Sydal and partner AGAIN. Samoa Joe vs Claudio Castagnoli AGAIN. BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs AGAIN. Briscoes vs Davey Richards and partner AGAIN. ROH needs a bigger roster if they want to run more shows. There’s just too much repetition on these less important filler shows. Hosting town is Chicago Ridge, IL. Announce team are Dave Prazak and Jared David.

Colt Cabana and Lacey are hanging out…complete with a sullen Jimmy Jacobs in tow. Lacey says Colt is bringing the World Title home for Lacey’s Angels, but he says he’s not in the Angels and business and pleasure are separate. She turns her attention to Jimmy, and tells him to injure BJ Whitmer tonight.

***BJ Whitmer lame interview alert*** He says he’s putting the issue with Jimmy Jacobs to bed tonight, then he wants to move into the hunt for the World Title.

Nigel McGuinness/Jimmy Rave/Sal Rinauro vs Delirious/Irish Airborne

McGuinness is basically babyface now since the fans respect him after four stellar efforts with American Dragon. He’s not joining The Embassy, just teaming with them tonight. Rave and Rinauro continue to search for direction, whilst Prince Nana continues to be absent from their corner. This is pretty much just 6 guys thrown together NOAH-style.

Jimmy takes the time to explain to Nigel that he doesn’t like balls, despite what the fans are chanting. He starts the wrestling by making Jake Crist look like his b*tch. Delirious gets spit all over his fingers and rubs it in Sal’s face. Rave slaps Rinauro for being such a tool. Dave Crist does the same flippedy armdrag sequences as usual on Rave, who promptly tags out to Nigel. Massive pop for him. Despite only having one healthy hand Dave really does well chaining with McGuinness. In the end Rave socks him from behind and tags himself in to take advantage of it. Nigel isn’t best pleased by that incidentally. Jimmy and Sal work Dave over without using their British partner. Eventually Crist hurdles Jimmy and gets the hot tag to Delirious…who dropkicks Jimmy into Rinauro’s crotch. BIZARRO DRIVER gets 2. Sal connects with the swinging Stunner which leaves Delirious in place for the CRAPPY WIZARD! Cobra Stretch blocked and The Embassy get 2 with the spear/superkick move. The Crists come in for a POWERBOMB LUNGBLOWER on Sal! McGuinness tags but Delirious ducks his rebound Lariat and throws both members of The Embassy on top of him. SPLASH/DOUBLE STOMP COMBO by the Crists on their stacked opponents. They hit Rave and Rinauro with pescados too. Nigel sets Delirious on the top rope but Jake and Dave are back before he can land the super Lariat. The Embassy pull Jake away…but Nigel ends up super Lariat-ing Dave to the floor. REBOUND LARIAT on Jake! Nigel gets the victory at 13:51.

Rating – *** – That was as much fun as anything on the undercard last night, and a hell of a way to open a show. It struck just the right balance between comedy, great wrestling, crowd participation and high spots. Despite barely being in the match Nigel looked like a million dollars which is essential coming off what is effectively four failed World Title shots.

Jimmy Jacobs vs BJ Whitmer

This has got some real history, but the match has been a little bit done to death now. They used to be a tag team, but BJ Whitmer got fed up of Jimmy Jacobs’ infatuation with Lacey and quit Lacey’s Angels. They had a brutal match at Dragon Gate Challenge which could’ve resulted in serious injury for both men – including an insane fall from the top rope. The rematch was at In Your Face when BJ powerbombed Jacobs from the top rope into the crowd. Basically whenever these guys get together something whacky happens. But we still haven’t seen a definitive winner. Jacobs has orders from Lacey to permanently injure Whitmer tonight, but can he focus on the match after he found out about Cabana and Lacey last night in St Paul?

Jacobs tries to get the jump on Whitmer but he simply lobs him through the ropes to the floor. Tope suicida by the big man. This leads to Jacobs getting his usual ass kicking around ringside. In the end JJ is able to throw Whitmer into the railings to get an advantage. BJ gets set up with his head exposed for the RINGPOST dropkick. ‘I wanted to watch’ – Jimmy Bower on the Cabana/Lacey shower scene. Jacobs gets 2 with his top rope torpedo headbutt. It’s inevitable that BJ will rally back eventually, and he does so by lifting Jimmy into a spinebuster for 2. He positions a table outside the ring but Jacobs interrupts before he can use it. BJ thinks about an Awesome Bomb but can’t manage it, so powerbombs Jimmy into the turnbuckles instead. Both men to the top rope…where bad things happen. Jacobs gets better positioning…HEADSCISSORS THROUGH THE TABLE! That was ugly as f*ck. The referee gives Whitmer a 10 count to prove he’s able to continue wrestling. He makes enough of a recovery to get back in, but Jacobs just knocks him down for the senton bomb. That’s only good for 2. Whitmer goes for a lariat but falls victim to a schoolboy pin at 11:00.

Rating – * – Meh…not a great weekend for Jimmy Jacobs. Despite his best efforts, he’s been in two real stinkers. Beyond the table spot (which was really messy) there wasn’t a whole lot to write about here – just aimless back and forth wrestling. It kinda seemed like they went out there knowing the finish, and knowing they were going to do the table gig, and not having anything else to fill the time with.

Lacey hands Jacobs a chair, and he uses it to lay waste to Whitmer’s leg. That’s possibly cooler than anything they did in the match. Jimmy breaks out a leg con-chair-to then stacks up a whole pile on Whitmer’s leg for a SENTON BOMB! Why they couldn’t have done that rather than boring the pants off everyone for the last 10 minutes is beyond me. BJ has to be carried out…

Backstage Samoa Joe is relishing the opportunity to fight Claudio Castagnoli now he has no CZW allies and no cheap escape routes. He promises the death penalty for Claudio’s treason.

Commissioner Jim Cornette (I totally forgot he was on the show) comes to the ring flanked by the Briscoes. I suppose we’ve forgotten they once fired him as manager now? He’s here to explain his actions following Cage of Death at Death Before Dishonor 4. He then cuts the most unbelievably long and rambling promo imaginable. Boring the crap out of everyone? Check. Taking ages telling us things we already know? Check. Repeating himself? Check. Fast forwarding. Basically, he’s not a heel commissioner. But he hates Homicide (and his fans) and will do everything in his power to take him out. “If you’re not with me, you’re against me” mentality. That basically makes him a heel commissioner anyway. Total waste of DVD time. I’d suggest keeping Jimbo on a much tighter leash. Finally he gets the hell out of the ring and we have ourselves a match…

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Homicide/Davey Richards

Since they failed in their final attempt to win the Tag Titles in the UK, the Briscoes are now left to deal with the plethora of enemies they’ve made up and down the roster. Their history with Homicide goes back to 2004 when they were involved in a feud with his Rottweiler stable. It reignited again at Generation Now and they’re now on the side of Jim Cornette in his war with Homicide. They also have problems with Davey Richards because they’ve continually jumped him and his mentor KENTA. He’s already lost tag matches to them twice this month, teaming with KENTA at Time To Man Up and Matt Sydal at Anarchy In The UK.

Homicide comes out by himself and gets stomped. Cornette tries to run away and almost gets knocked over by Davey Richards as he sprints to the ring. The match finally starts with a four man brawl all around ringside before the referee gets a recognisable tag format going. Richards distracts Mark Briscoe whilst Homicide knocks the tar out of his brother on the floor. Mark is eventually able to get a tag and he gets 2 with a springboard crossbody. Jay gets 2 with a second rope Rocker dropper. Homicide find a tag with a second rope Manhattan drop on Mark. The Davey/Cide combo land a few moves before Richards is isolated thanks to the tag team fluidity of the Briscoes. Jay in particular does a good job of heeling it up on offence. Mark almost chokes Richards out with a chinlock as the beatdown of the rookie sensation continues. Finally Davey gets an STO on Mark then rolls through Jay into a hot tag to his partner. BRUTAL piledriver on Jay but he’s not the legal man so no pin for Cide. Mark preoccupies Homicide long enough for his brother to recover, but in the end Jay takes Cide to the top rope for a super DDT. TOPE CON HILO scores after Richards blind tags. The PERFECT German suplex gets 2. Mark blocks the Horse Collar so Davey picks him up for a powerbomb then applies it anyway. Mark blocks the DR Driver and is joined by Jay for the Splash Mountain neckbreaker which gets 2. Richards hits a Tombstone which leaves Jay in position for Homicide’s FROG SPLASH for 2. Homicide winds up for the lariat only for Jay to pull him to the floor. BACK DROP DRIVER from Richards to Mark, but Jay runs to obliterate Davey with a Mafia kick. Homicide nails him with the super Ace crusher. Mark connects with the urinage on him. HANDSPRING ENZI by Davey! CAPTURE SUPLEX ON JAY…NO SOLD! BOTH MEN KNOCKED DOWN! Homicide looks for the Cop Killa on Mark but he gets thrown out. RUNNING SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE pins Richards at 19:45.

Rating – *** – It started a little vanilla but they worked hard and it got better as it went along. The Briscoes have always been damn good, but they’ve finally added character to their array of amazing moves. Their heelish, badass redneck routine really makes them stand out, and the turning point of this match was when they started working over Davey Richards. Plus you can always count on them for a decent splurge of big moves to round out a tag match. The Briscoes have got Homicide again on the second night of the Glory By Honor 5 weekend. Hopefully Cide brings a little more hatred in his hometown. I felt he looked a little disinterested, which hurt this one.

INTERMISSION – Dave Prazak says BJ Whitmer has been taken to hospital. Jimmy Jacobs interrupts him and says it was the power of love that fuelled him to injure Whitmer. He says the same power will overcome Lacey’s relationship with Colt Cabana…

Claudio Castagnoli vs Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe has wanted to kick Castagnoli’s ass for ages. Claudio turned on ROH to join CZW at The 100th Show by causing the ROH team (of which Joe was a member) to lose the big 6-man brawl. He came looking for revenge when ROH’s Weekend Of Champions stopped off in Cleveland, but Claudio basically evaded him under the pretence of a “wrestling match” before his CZW allies interrupted and caused a DQ. They’re gone now and Claudio is left to pay the price.

Claudio uses his ‘Swiss intelligence’ to take an eternity getting into the ring, then finally does sneak in and jumps Joe from behind. Unfortunately for him, Joe ignores all his offence and almost kicks his head off. Claudio tries to crawl out of the ring, but Joe stops him by standing on him. Next he tries a crossbody from the top but there’s no-one home on that. Joe gets 2 with that awesome overhead enziguri kick. Eventually Castagnoli lands an offensive move – a Samoan drop of all things. He gets revenge for earlier by standing on Joe. He lands lots of clubbing blows but has to resort to his wrestling ability to counter the STJoe then hit a jumping heel kick. To the ropes where Claudio brings your classic bad guy wrestling tactics of choking and using them to rake the eyes. In the end he gets too confident and receives a big boot to the side of his head. Castagnoli tries to avoid the running bootscrape by fleeing the ring…so Joe just keeps running into the ELBOW SUICIDA! Ole Ole Kick scores as well, much to the delight of the fans. Hell, he does it TWICE MORE for good measure. Back inside Claudio gets 2 with the single ugliest Match Killer ever. ALFA MARI WATER SLIDE! Joe kicks out. Castagnoli brings the awesome again by having Joe’s usual powerslam scouted and grabbing the ropes to escape it. Powerbomb/STF sequence by Joe…too close to the ropes. Claudio tries a monkey flip in the corner which is suicidal. MUSCLEBUSTER NAILED! Joe wins at 14:32.

Rating – *** – That wasn’t all perfect, but they did enough to hit the 3* mark. Claudio may not have had the best matches but his own performances have been good this weekend. He’s cut out the pretty wrestling for the sake of pretty wrestling and tried to work a more concentrated heel style, and it’s worked. The crowd weren’t always into his act…but the effectiveness of the work was apparent when they really popped hard anytime Joe was on offence. Countering the moves Joe has been doing since 2002 when he debuted was also a nice touch. Not a classic but that was a solid effort.

This is technically the FOURTH different partner Sydal has challenged for the tag belts with (w/ Styles – Fourth Anniversary, w/ Joe – Weekend of Champions, w/ Evans – Fight Of The Century and now Daniels tonight). He’s also teamed with Davey Richards this year too. The guy is a whore! Anyway, he and Daniels have formed a team after earning each other’s respect with their series of matches against each other this year. Daniels says his “direction” in ROH is to win the tag belts. Aries and Strong are having an awesome year…this could be a great match.

‘You’ve had like 10 partners’ – Aries to Sydal. Austin’s ribs are obviously still injured and taped. Roderick starts with Sydal and looks determined to put him in his lace. Sydal crucifixes out of a clothesline only for Strong to retort by cartwheeling free of the enzicanrana. Daniels and Aries slow it down with some matwork, ending with the headscissors escape dropkick from Austin. The champs do a pretty sweet move where Aries blind tags from Strong, right into a slingshot senton. They seem to be working Daniels’ back and neck, which makes sense given the finishing moves of both of them. Aries hits a slingshot elbow drop with Daniels lying prone over Roddy’s knees for 2. The Power Drive elbow goes right into the midsection as well. But Aries gets too cocky and tries a frog splash, which drives his injured ribs straight into Daniels’ knees. Matt tags and goes straight after the ribs – showing that he learned to be aggressive and work an injury from all those matches with Daniels. Suplex gutbuster from the Fallen Angel. There’s another nice little touch from Sydal, as he gives Aries a backbreaker after Roderick comes in to break a pinfall – it’s like a mental slap in the face. Daniels applies an abdominal stretch, and Matt adds to that with a slingshot dropkick to the gut. Aries is suplexed over the ropes next, and left to hang there whilst Sydal mounts the ropes for a Cannonball leg drop. Daniels with the abdominal stretch again, but Aries is able to escape with a back suplex.

Hot tag to Strong at last. He almost launches Sydal through the ceiling…then almost dropkicks his head off his shoulders to boot. Falcon arrow gets 2. He tries the Gibson Driver but Sydal saves. FRONT LUNGBLOWER by Daniels on Aries. Strong takes Daniels out and all four are reeling. Sydal and Strong up first…HERE IT IS DRIVER gets 2. The challengers botch a tilta-whirl Ace crusher double team, then Strong and Daniels take each other to the floor. RUNNING MOONSAULT BY SYDAL! Not to be outdone, Aries poleaxes Sydal with the HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! ARABIAN PRESS BY DANIELS! Sydal tries a super rana on Strong, but he rolls through it into a POWERBOMB BACKBREAKER! Aries gets 2 with a frog splash (with rib-selling). Daniels blocks the chop brainbuster combo and gets 2 on Aries with an STO. CHOP BRAINBUSTER NAILED as Daniels tried the urinage slam BME set-up. Sydal saves Daniels from the Missile Dropkick Bomb and gives Aries his STANDING SUPER RANA! STANDING MOONSAULT/BEST MOONSAULT EVER COMBO! STRONG SAVES! He goes to the floor, but Sydal climbs the ropes for a TOP ROPE MOONSAULT OUTSIDE! KOJI CLUTCH ON ARIES! That’s pressure on the ribs, as on the floor Roddy launches Matt into a ringpost. Daniels tries Angel’s Wings but swings into a BIG BOOT from Strong. HALF NELSON BACKBREAKER! 450 SPLASH! Aries gets the pinfall at 22:03.

Rating – **** – They’ve all got the same rating but I think this was the best Sydal & partner Tag Title challenge of 2006. I don’t think anyone really thought Daniels and Sydal were winning it here, but that didn’t stop them putting on a hell of a match which the Chicago crowd went absolutely crazy for. After dissing the St Paul crowd at the previous show, I will give Chi-Town their due – great job. They got a little spot happy down the stretch, but it was all exciting stuff. However, my main enjoyment here was the excellent isolation segment/hot tag sequence with Aries tagging to Roddy. Daniels and Sydal were really great at working the injury (an advancement on the storyline from the Daniels/Sydal feud where Matt got more aggressive in order to get a victory)…and when he got the tag Roddy tore the house town with some killer offence. I think this is a safe bet for match of the weekend.

Bryan Danielson vs Colt Cabana – ROH World Title 2/3 Falls Match

These guys have a simmering rivalry stretching back to The 100th Show in April. Danielson beat Colt in five minutes at that event – with Cabana feeling the effects of spending months brawling with Homicide. He retrained, went back to the bottom of the card and earned himself a rematch at FIP’s Impact Of Honor show. Danielson won that match by cheating…and Cabana was granted another title match in his home town at Chi-Town Struggle. That (disappointing) match ended with Dragon showing the world why he’s called ‘Mr Small Package’ when he won with a roll-up. As we saw in the latest Video Recap (included on the DVD). Cabana took exception to being pinned with a roll-up and demanded one last shot under 2/3 falls rules. That brings us here. Remember, Dragon went to a 60-minute draw with Nigel McGuinness last night, and has still never won a 2/3 Falls match in ROH. This is also the match where Danielson suffered his infamous shoulder injury.

‘He’ll be looking to put his small package to use in this match’ – Prazak with a candidate for line of the year. Cabana shows he’s a better wrestler than he was at The 100th Show by easily holding his own with Danielson in the chain-wrestling department. Cabana hits the COLT 45 out of nowhere and takes a shock 1-0 lead at 05:43. That’s more payback from The 100th Show as now it’s him that’s beaten the World Champion in lightning quick time. Danielson responds by getting super-aggressive. He uses a handshake to get in a cheapshot, then starts peppering Cabana with closed fists, palm strikes to the nose and such. Colt tries to combat those tactics by repeatedly throwing Dragon out of the ring. Danielson tries headbutts to the gut, but eventually Cabana moves and the champion falls out of the ring. Pop goes the shoulder on that one – he landed straight on it and is immediately visibly injured. 10 minutes gone. He can’t even move the arm by the looks of things…and the early pace has totally died as they’re stalling for time and coming up with ideas of how they can work around it. Cabana clearly decides to really test that shoulder by stretching it in a surfboard. They’re lucky they’ve got Colt’s comedy to fall back on otherwise the live crowd would be utterly dead. It’s been nothing but basic hold exchanges with no real flow for almost 10 minutes. Danielson gets it together enough to throw out some vicious strikes – and Cabana promptly bails to kill some time. At 1-0 up he can just wait out the 60-minute time limit and win the title. Dragon is hitting with his weaker but uninjured left arm too. Cabana gets 2 with a quebrada press, but Danielson defies his injury to land a German suplex. Crossface Chickenwing attempted but obviously it’s much easier for Colt to escape.

Colt 45 blocked, but Danielson’s offensive arsenal has been eradicated since he can’t do ANY of his moves well. Colt gets another 2 with a tornado suplex. He tries the quebrada again but this time Dragon kicks his leg as he hits the ropes. That’s a cue for the World Champion to start working the leg, which FINALLY gives the match a sense of direction again. He’s also got a variety of ways to attack the leg without using his arm too much. They battle over a suplex for almost two minutes, with Colt eventually nailing it. It’s killing time but it made sense within the match and the crowd bought it. 30 minutes on the clock. Danielson thinks about the Mexican surfboard, but there’s no way he can do that, and he stomps the legs instead. Figure 4 (with rope cheatery) locked in. Next Cabana gets his leg tied up in the ropes which allows AmDrag to kick away at it. He tries a knee drop to the leg but Cabana moves. Cabana tries a crossbody but now it’s Dragon moving. Crossface Chickenwing again, but with an injured shoulder and no previous damage done to those areas, Colt escapes. Cabana hits the ropes and gets 2 with the lariat that he used with success during the Homicide feud. Danielson does the Tiger Mask flip into LANCE STORM’S ROLLING HALF CRAB! This is the building where he beat Storm on April 1st. Colt once again tries to stall by running to the floor. Danielson kicks him into the front row. SPRINGBOARD INJURED SHOULDER CROWD PLANCHA! That’s a GUT CHECK right there.

Danielson is desperate to get a fall back now, and uses a chair as they brawl through the fans. They brawl a little more, then Colt uses a chair to get an advantage. He goes to ringside…SPRINGBOARD CROSSBODY INTO THE CROWD! And that’ll count as knee selling since he didn’t do his usual Asai moonsault! Danielson gets tossed into the bleachers, but comes back by choking Cabana with his wrist tape. He grabs a chair and drills Colt’s injured leg with it. Cabana absorbs that and suplexes the champion through some chairs. Back at ringside Danielson arranges some furniture for a SHINBREAKER on the table. 50 minutes down and Cabana still leads 1-0. Back in the ring Colt gets 2 with a cradle DDT. He thinks about a moonsault but gets crotched and back superplexed. Crossface Chickenwing in the middle of the ring. But Cabana escapes it. REGALPLEX…gets 2. Danielson tries Cattle Mutilation but Cabana keeps countering it. Elbows of Death tried, but Cabana is in the ropes. That’s ALL Danielson’s finishers failed. Colt comes back with a Kryptonite neckbreaker and a dragon sleeper. INVERTED SUPLEX with an injured shoulder enables Dragon to counter. Cattle Mutilation…only for Cabana to escape again. Colt isn’t selling the leg anymore…but gets 2 with a moonsault. 5 minutes left. COLT 45 AGAIN, but Danielson is in the ropes. Billy Goat’s Curse applied, and it doesn’t matter if he gets a submission or not – it’s killing time. Danielson escapes and is so desperate he starts using his right arm to hit roaring elbows. Colt finds the ropes as Danielson tries the MMA Elbows again…then he runs to the floor. He even throws the photographer at Dragon so he can run away. One minute left! LOW BLOW! SMALL PACKAGE! DANIELSON GETS A FALL AT 59:41! The clock runs down, the 60 minutes are up and we’ve got another 1-1 draw.

Rating – *** – The last 15 minutes of that match were just great. Everything from the crowd brawling to the Chicago crowd going bananas thinking that Cabana might actually win the World Title. My biggest problem was that until then…it was REALLY dull. Of course, it’s not really fair to complain since most of the problems were due to Danielson’s shoulder injury, but still. It started positively, with them using the themes established in Philadelphia in April…but as soon as Dragon hurt the arm the match died. There was a 15 minute spell after the incident when almost nothing happened. I have all the respect in the world to Danielson for gutting out 50 minutes with a messed up shoulder, but that doesn’t change the fact that the injury made this a weaker match. Thankfully they recovered, and were able to keep filling time until the wild final quarter, which was a hell of a pay-off. Not as good a complete match as Danielson/McGuinness last night…but a far better finish.

POST-SHOW UPDATE – Bryan Danielson has been told his injured shoulder needs surgery. Despite being told he wouldn’t be stripped of the title, Danielson has refused surgery, and will be back in the ring at Glory By Honor 5 Night 2 to defend against KENTA.

Tape Rating – *** – Still one of the weaker shows of 2006, but there’s enough good stuff to get a 3* rating. I think this whole weekend proved that too much American Dragon isn’t necessarily a good thing. TWO consecutive 1 hour draws haven’t really delivered MOTYC matches, didn’t draw rave reviews and have left the man himself with a severe injury. The Danielson/Cabana match tonight wasn’t bad. Hell, like I said, the last 15 minutes were really awesome. But getting through the first 45 was a bit of a slog. Fortunately Gut Check is a much better top to bottom card than Epic Encounter 2. The Tag Title match is the best match this weekend. The trios opener is surprisingly good, and the Briscoes vs Homicide/Davey tag was decent as well. The Jacobs/Whitmer match and ULTRA-dull Cornette promo need to be skipped though. Here’s the score with this weekend. Personally, unless you get every show you can skip them. If you feel the need to pick up just ONE of the EE2/GC weekend…then be clear about what you want. If you’re looking for the better show then pick Gut Check. If you’re looking for the better 60 minute Danielson draw, get Epic Encounter 2. Personally I’d get this one…

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